Allen earns fourth V-Rod title

From Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada

EDMONTON, AB – In the frigid and damp Edmonton air Nick Allen, proudly racing for Redline Harley-Davidson, capped off another brilliant season by taking his fourth Harley-Davidson V-Rod Destroyer Championship in as many years.

The planned showdown between Eastern Series Champion Pete Thomson, sponsored by Rocky’s Harley-Davidson, and Allen never took place. Instead, the season was decided in favour of Allen, who had the most wins on the books.

As the combatants prepped for the final races of the day, the lingering slate gray sky that had enveloped Castrol Raceway dumped its contents on the drag strip, bringing an end to what were, up until then, some of the closest and most interesting races to be seen all season.

Another battle of the weekend left unresolved was the anticipated contest pitting master against student. Allen’s dazzling young protégé, Chris Perkins set the tone early, winning the qualification rounds with a run of 9.069 secs., identical to that of his mentor Allen. In only his fifth career race Perkins, racing under the Redline Harley-Davidson/Edge Harley-Davidson umbrella, took a narrow margin to the lead with a better top speed (137.97).

With Allen and Perkins poised for the final weekend race of the day, an early cancellation put an end to the race before it even began. Perkins did, however, walk away with the Rookie of The Year Award later on at the CMDRA Awards Banquet.

Saturday’s qualification runs brought a great deal of excitement to the track, as riders and tuners struggled with the cold and threatening western conditions. Perkins set the standard for the rest of the field with the leading run, earning himself a bye in round one of eliminations.

Eastern star rookie Mitch McCallum, riding for MotoSport Plus in Kingston, ON, bested Kelly McCuaig with an ET of 9.633 and a speed of 134.67. Thomson then topped the efforts of Rick Adams with a 9.683 at 135.09, keeping both eastern representatives in contention.

Allen ran a 9.609 and 135.99 against the efforts of Mike Evanyshyn’s 9.891 and 132.52, while Jeff Pitre of Midnight Sun Racing, sponsored by Pido Productions and Harleys Hardrock Saloon, battled Shaun Rude, riding for Heritage Harley-Davidson, setting the stage for some very close battles in the elimination rounds on Sunday.

In eliminations, Perkins earned another bye, beating out Dennis Harkin, riding for Edge Harley-Davidson. The eastern battle was settled right away as McCallum earned the right to defend the East by beating out Thomson with a healthy 9.565 and 136.63 mph. Allen then sent Pitre to the sidelines with a blazing run of 9.519 and 137.13 mph.

In the second round of eliminations, it was the eastern rookie versus the western rookie in what turned out to be the closest race of the weekend. When the white lights flashed in Perkins’ lane, he was only ahead of a hard-charging McCallum by seven-tenths of a second to take the win, sending Allen back to pace in the pits in anticipation of facing off against Perkins in the final, a final that would never materialize.